Paper towel dispenses



April 13,1937.

J. c. PERRIN PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER Original Filed Feb. 2, 1932 2 w 5 MP ya m, J

147 TO/QNASY Reissued Apr. 13, 1937 PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER Jay C. Peri-in, Los Angeles, Calif assignor to Towlsaver, Inc., a corporation of California Original No. 1,913,722, dated June 13, 1933, Serial No. 590,414, February 2, 1932. Application for reissue June 10, 1935, Serial No. 27,423

10 Claims.

My invention relates to a simple device for dispensing strips of material such as paper towels from a continuous roll of material in uniform lengths.

55 associated therewith-for preventing an over stroke of the operating and dispensing means and necessitating manual release before a subsequent operation is possible.

While I have set forth hereinas an object of roller 35 associated therewith. One of the roll- At the present time crepe paper towels are exmy invention, the dispensing of paper towels, it 5 tensively usedinsubstantially squareform, folded will be apparent that the mechanism shown is so as to fit within a container having an opening readily adapted for use in connection with other in the bottom thereof through which one edge of kinds of flexible sheetmaterial. the lowest folded paper towel will project so as to Further objects and advantages of the invenbe in a position for manual engagement whereby tion will be made evident throughout the follow- 0 to be pulled from the container. It is found that ins part of the specification. there is a very great waste of such towels Owing to Referring to the drawing, which is for illusthe fact that users thereof will not hesitate to pull trative purposes only, out several towels, and it is further found that Fig. 1 is a perspective elevational view showing more than one towel will sometimes issue from a preferred form of my invention. 16 the container at one time. Y Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view of the device It is an object of my invention to provide a diswith the cover thereof in raised position. penser for paper towel material, having means Fig. 3 is across section on a plane represented therein for supportinga roll of crepe towel paper, by the line 3-3 of Fig. together with means for' ejecting measured porg. 4 is a section on a plane represented y the 20 tions of a strip of paper from a roll, so that such line 4-4 of Fig. 2. projecting portions may be torn off and used. Fig. 5 is a section on a plane represented by th Associated with the feeding or dispensing means line 5-5 of F18. of the device is a simple means for measuring the AS shown in Fig. 1, the invention employs. a length of the strips of paper fed from the concase or container ll adapted to be secured to a 25 tainer, this measuring means being controlled wall and having a handle i2 at one end thereof by a lever which must be manually actuated each which y be rotated t Qaufie Portion l3 0! time it is desired to obtain a sheet of towel paper towel paper to issue from the case II in a position from the dispenser. The dispensing device is where it may be readily gripped and torn off. As 3 provided with a handle connected to the feeding shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the container ii includes 80 or delivery means. This handle may be rotated a base or body portion l4 and a cover IS. The through a definite arc of rotation, such as base l4 has a back iii, a horizontally extending through one complete rotation, whereupon it is bottom I1, and side walls i8 andifi which extend positively stopped by the control means of the vertically from the ends of the bottom l1 and device and cannot be again moved until a latch forwardly from the. e d of t e back li- The 35 means associated with the control device is recover I5 includes a front wall 2| of sheet metal tracted manually by moving the projecting conwhich is bent rearwardly at its upper end so as trol lever. to provide a top for the case I l, and side walls 22 A further object of the invention is to provide and 23 which are adapted to cover the side walls aslmple fem of t l means having parts autol8 and i9 when the cover i5 is in closed position 40 matically moved into position for stopping the as shown in Fig. l. v movement of the feeding mechanism of the towel Means is provided for holding a roll of paper dispensing device, it being an especial object of 24 within the case ll, such means preferably the invention to provide a construction adapted consisting of a bar 25 having flattened ends'26 to be very cheaply manufactured, though rugged adapted to slide downwardly in vertical notches and serviceable. 21 in the side walls i8 and i9. To hold the roll An important object is to provide a dispenser 24 centralized within the case, spacer rings 28 having a couple of cooperating gripping rollers may be employed on the ends of the bar 25, as spaced from the roll of material and adapted to shown in Fig. 2. In the bottom l'l, preferably grip the paper therebetween and which rotate for but not necessarily, an opening 32 is formed 50 a predetermined number of revolutions in order through which the end 3| of the strip of paper to accurately measure and dispense strips of 22 comprising the roll 24 may be fed by means paper of greater length than width at each operaof feeding or delivery means 23 consisting of 8 tion, and manually operable means having means primary dispensing roller 34 and an auxiliary 5 ers 34 or 35 may have, though not necessarily, africtional band 36 of rubber, which is indicated in Fig. 3. The dispensing rollers 34 and 35 have projecting trunnions 31 and 38, which 5 extend through openings in the lower parts of the side walls l3 and I9, and tension springs 40 connect the ends of the trunnions 31 and 38 for yieldably holding one of said rollers relative to the other roller. Rollers 34 and 35 are substantially spaced from the roll of paper 24 and grip the paper 32 fed from the roll 24.

Connected with the roller 34 is a gear 4| which is preferably secured to the rightward end of the roller 34, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, this gear 4| being engaged by a larger gear 42 mounted on a shaft" which projects inwardly from the side wall I! and is connected with a rotary 'disc 44 lying adjacent the outer face of the side wall IS.

The shaft 43 is continued outwardly, as shown at 45 in Fig. 2, and the end thereof is bent to form a crank or operating handle 46 whereby the gear 42 may be rotated and thereby transmit rotation to the gear 4| and produce rotation of the roller 34. Forward rotation of the gear 42 is indicated by the arrow 41 of Fig. 5, and for preventing reverse rotation a catch 48 is mounted on a pivot 50 which extends inwardly from the side wall I 9, such catch having a tooth 5| adapted to engage the teeth of the gear 42.

It is preferable that the gears 4| and 42 be so proportioned relative to the diameter of the roller 34 that a single rotation of the handle 46 will produce delivery of a strip 3 of substantially greater length than width, so as to form a towel with a moisture-absorbing capacity sufficient for drying the hands and yet narrow enough to avoid waste. A feature of my invention is to provide in conjunction with the feeding mechanism 33 a means 53 which will accurately measure the length of the strip 32 issued from the machine by stopping the shaft 43, and consequently the parts of the feeding mechanism 33 associated therewith, at the end of a single revolution, thereby preventing a user from continuously feeding the strip 32 from the case II.

The control means 53, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, includes a lug 54 extended from the periphery of disc 44 fixed to the shaft 43, and a dog 55 which forms a stop for lug 54 at the bifurcated inner end 56 of a lever 51. Said lever is mounted on a pivot member 58 in such position that the forward end 60 thereof will project through a vertically elongated opening 6| in the front 2| of the cover l5, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the forward endjll of the lever 51 may be manually lifted when it is desired to operate the feeding mechanism 33 of the dispensing device.

When the lever 51 is in the position in which it is shown in Fig. 4, the downwardly projecting stop dog extends into thecircular path of movement of and is engaged by the lug 54 on rotary disc 44, as shown in Fig. 4, thereby preventing further rotation of shaft 43 and its connected parts in the direction of the arrow 62. when it is desired to obtaina paper towel from the dispensing device, the forward end of the lever 51 is raised to the position indicated by dotted lines 63, with the result that the stop dog 55 is moved out of the path of movement of the rotating lug 54, permitting the lug to move upwardly. Extending upwardly and rightwardly at the inner 'end of the lever 51 is an arm 64 having an inner face or edge 65 which swings into the position indicated by dotted lines 66 when 15 the lever 51 is raised, thus bringing the inner within the path of movement of the lug 54, with the result that the lug 54 will be engaged and stopped by-the dog 55 at the end of a single rotation of the crank 48.

To facilitate tearing off the projecting end of the strip of paper, I provide a downwardly projecting edge 61, simply formed by bending downwardly the portion of metal 68 removed from the bottom I] to form the opening 30. The severing of the paper strip is accomplished by drawing it against the lower edge 61 of the member 68 and exerting a diagonal pull.

The controlling means 53 must be manually actuated to remove the dog 55 from the path of movement of the lug 54 each time a sheet of towel paper is desired. I find that it is desirable to issue from the towel dispenser a sheet which is somewhat longer than it is wide, which can be readily accomplished by properly proportiom'ng' the roller 34. I have found that under ordinary circumstances the user of paper towels will not go to the additional trouble of lifting the lever 51 afterasingle towel has issued from the machine, and that as a result of this tendency to avoid effort wherever possible, the number of towels used in a lavatory 3 may be considerably reduced by the installation of a device of the character shown in this application. To obtain towels from the ordinary type of cabinet requires but little labor; therefore, the user will often pull out more towels than he requires, but where a device of the character of my invention is employed, the user will not go to the extra labor of procuring towels from the dispenser which he does not absolutely need.

Although I have herein shown and described my invention in simple and practical form, it is recognized that certain parts or elements thereof are representative of other parts, elements, ofmechanism which may be employed in substantially the same manner to accomplish substantially the same results; therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the following claims.

What I claim, is:

1. A dispenser of the character described, in-

cluding: a supporting structure adapted to-hold a strip; roller means for feeding said strip from said support; means for manually rotating said roller means to feed said strip; means for severing the part of said strip issued by said roller means; and manually releasable control means for stopping said roller means after a predetermined rotation thereof, said releasable control means comprising a rotary member connected to said rotating means, a manually operable lever pivotally mounted on said supporting structure, means operable by said rotary member, and movable simultaneously with said lever for engagement with said rotary member, whereby to stop the rotation of said roller feeding means at a given point in different operations.

2. A dispenser of the character described, including: a supporting structure; a roll holder for holding in said supporting structure a strip in ing structure, a stop member associated with said lever and adapted to be moved by said lever between positions of engagement and non-engagement relative to said rotary stop member, and

means associated with said lever for automatically moving said stop member into said position of engagement relative to said rotary member.

3. A dispenser of the character described, in-

' cluding: a case having a back adapted to be secured to a wall and a longitudinal opening through which a strip of paper may issue, there being a longitudinal cutting edge engaged by and for severing the projecting portion of said strip, and side walls projecting upwardly from the ends of said case, a handle having a shaft supported in one of said side walls; a roller connected to the inner end of said shaft whereby to be rotated by said shaft; an idler roller disposed in rolling engagement with said first named roller; means for supporting a roll of paper in said container in such position that the end thereof may be fed between said rollers; a stop member on said shaft, and a lever pivotally mounted adjacent said last named side wall, the free end of said lever projecting into a position to be manually moved, and the inner end of said lever having means thereon adapted to swing in and out of the path of movement of said stop member on said shaft, and an arm adapted to project into the path of movement of said stop member when said means is out of said path of movement and being engageable by said stop member whereby to swing said lever so as to move the means on said lever into said path of movement of said-stop member.

4. A dispenser of the character described, including: a case adapted to be secured to-a wall and having an opening in a portion thereof through which a strip of paper may issue, a cutting edge adjacent said opening for use in detaching a'projecting portion of said strip, a rotary member having an outwardly projecting handle and having a shaft projecting inwardly through an opening in a side of said case, a primary dispensing roller operatively connected with said shaft, an auxiliary idleru-ollerdisposed adjacent said primary roller means forsupporting a roll of paper in said case in such position for feeding paper therefrom between said rollers, and a lever pivotally mounted on said casein a position to be manually moved, said lever having angularly disposed portions adapted to swing inwardly and outwardly relative to said rotary member, and a lug on said rotary member rotatable in the path of said angularly disposed portions, one of said portions being engageable with said lug so as to move the other portion into position to be engaged by said lug, for stopping the rotation of said rollers at a corresponding point in each dispensing operation. 5. A dispenser of the character described, including: a case adapted to be secured to a support and having an opening through which a.

strip of paper may issue, means adjacent said opening for detaching a projecting portion of said strip, a rotary control member having a handle 'and a shaft at a side of said case, dispensing means including a primary roller operatively con,- nected with said shaft and an auxiliary roller,

means for supporting a roll of paper in said case in position for feeding paper from said roll between said rollers; said control member having a projection, an operating lever pivoted on said case having its inner end bifurcated and formed with angularly disposed portions for engagement at different positions with the projection on said control member and adapted to move in and out for rotatably supporting a roll of towel materialtherein on a fixed axis, a pair of dispensing rollers rotatable in said case and spaced from said roll of material between which the paper from said roll is adapted to be fed outwardly from said case, an operating member geared to one of said dispensing rollers whereby a single revolution of said operating member will effect the rotation of said dispensing rollers to the extent of a plurality of revolutions, for uniformly measuring the strips dispensed in successive operations, and a manually releasable control for stopping said dispensing rollers after predetermined rotation thereof and including a stop member movable manually and independently of said operating member into position to release said rollers, and means operated by rotation of said operating member to restore said stop member to stopping position.

7. A towel dispenser comprising a case, means for rotatably supporting a roll of towel-material therein on a fixed axis, a pair of dispensing rollers rotatable in said case and spaced from said roll of material between which the paper from said roll is adapted to be fed outwardly from said case, an operating member geared to one of said dispensing rollers whereby a single revolution of said operating member will eifect the rotation of said dispensing rollers to the extent of a plurality of revolutions, for uniformly measuring the strips dispensed in successive operations, and manually releasable means associated with said operating member for limiting the rotation of said operating member to a single revolution at each operation thereof, said means including a stop lever movable manually and independently of said operating member into position to release said rollers, means operated by rotation of said operating member for restoring said lever to stopping position and subsequently engaging said lever to stop said rollers,

8. A towel dispenser comprising a case, means for rotatably supporting a roll of towel material therein on a fixed axis, a pair of dispensing rollers rotatable in said caseand spaced from said roll of material between which the paper from said roll is adapted to be fed outwardly from said case, an operating member geared to one of said dispensing rollers whereby a single revolution of said operating member will effect the rotation of said dispensing rollers to the extent of a plurality of revolutions, for uniformly measuring the strips dispensed in successive operations, and manually releasable means associated with said operating member for limiting the rotation of said operating member to a single revolution at each operation thereof, said means ineluding a lever, and a stop member rotatable with said operating member and engageable with said lever to prevent an overmovementoi' the operating member, and means on said lever engageable with said stop member prior to the completion of a revolution 01 the operating member, for restoring said lever to position to stop the rotatlon of the operating member.

9. A dispenser of the character described, including a case member having an opening therein through which a strip of paper may pass, means for supporting a roll of paper in said case, roller means substantially spaced from said roll for engaging said strip at a point remote from the roll for feeding said strip of paper through said opening, a rotatableoperating handle at one side of said case, means connecting said handle with said roller means whereby the roller means is rotated a plurality of revolutions at each single revolution of said handle, and manually releasable control means, including a member movable manually and independently of said handle into position to release said roller means, controlled by movement 01' said handle by stopping said roller means after a predetermined rotation thereof.

10. A towel dispenser comprising a case, means for rotatably supporting a roll of towel m terial therein, rotatable means spaced from sa roll of material for gripping and dispensing trips of material from said roll, and means for automatically effecting and controlling the operation of said dispensing means when the latter is manually operated, whereby each st'rip dispensed may be of uniformly greater length than the width thereof, said last named means including two members projecting through said case and each manually operable to control and permit operation of said dispensing means.

JAY C. PERRIN. 

